U.S. aid to the Palestinians is in jeopardy over their ties to the terrorist group Hamas, unwillingness to restart negotiations with Israel and push for statehood at the United Nations over U.S. resistance, congressional Republicans and Democrats warned July 12.
Senior Obama administration officials cautioned against cutting off assistance — some $550 million has been requested this year. Testifying before a House panel this week, officials from the State Department said that helping to build Palestinian governmental institutions and an economy is essential to the security of both Israel and the Palestinians.
With Congress likely to decide on foreign aid sometime in the fall, lawmakers signaled that U.S. assistance to the Palestinians could be eliminated as the two rival Palestinian leaderships (the secular Fatah and the Islamist Hamas) reconcile and try to form a new government. Israel and the U.S. consider Hamas a terrorist organization.
“I would suggest to the Palestinian Authority leadership that when you get into a cage with a tiger, you’re not a partner, you’re a lunch,” said Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.
A 2006 law conditions aid to the Palestinians based on whether they acknowledge Israel’s right to exist, renounce violence and agree to abide by past agreements. — ap